Trophy mount



May 15, 1957- G. G. CHRISTENSEN 3,319,922

TROPHY MOUNT Filed July 22, 1965 l NV EN TOR 64k/v 6. CA4P/572W@ ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,319,922 TROPHY MOUNT Garn G. Christensen, Salt Lake City, Utah, assignor to Buckhorn Corporation Filed July 22, 1965, Ser. No. 473,991 1 Claim. (Cl. 248-466) This invention relates generally to trophy mounts, and more particularly to trophy mounts which a sportsman can use to mount the antlers of animals in which the several parts of the mount are readily assembled and disassembled.

The mounting of antlers or horns by sportsmen for use as decorative wall plaques has long had an important place in the schemes yof interior decoration of homes, oices and other rooms. No device, however, exists for mounting the -antlers or horns in a simple fashion and in the past it has been necessary to place the antlers or horns in the hands of a taxidermist for mounting which is expensive.

A trophy mount has, however, now been discovered whereby the sportsman can quickly and simply mount the antlers of animals himself which is as attractive, or more attractive, than the professional taxidermist mounting. The trophy mount of this invention in general consists of a plaque to which the antlers are secured by spring steel strips and a Sculptured polystyrene foam slug which will t over the base of the antlers and, by the nature of the material, adapt and conform with the antlers.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, and to the appended claims in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawing forming a material part of this disclosure:

FIGURE l is a front elevation view of an antler trophy mount in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2A is a partial front view of the mount with the fabric removed and FIGURE 2B is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 2 2 FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 3 is a vertical-sectional view taken along the line 3 3 of FIGURE 2B.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, the trophy mount of this invention includes a fiat body piece which is formed by a laminated chip core plywood sheet 12 (see FIGURE 3) having a hard plastic, i.e., urethane, finished facing 14. The back of the body piece 10 has a hanging device (not shown) and is partly covered with felt sheeting v16, see FIGURE 3, to protect the walls. The body piece 10 is pre-set and drilled to accommodate two wood screws 18 and two metal screws 20.

The mounting mechanism for mounting antlers 100 consist-s of two spring steel strips 22 one on each side of body piece 10, only one of which is shown, see FIGURE 2B. Each strip 22 has been pre-drilled in order to accommodate the wood and metal screws 1S and 20. A covering shield or slug 24 made of Sculptured styrofoam, a low density, bubble-type, polystyrene plastic made by inating cells of polystyrene with air and sold by the Dow Chemical Co. Shield 24 is Sculptured to t and mount a variety of horn or antler sizes and is pressed over the strips 22 and the antlers 100 after they are in place. A cloth 26,

3,319,922 Patented May 16, 1967 ICC i.e., velvet, is attached to the shield 24 by the use of tacks 28, or adhesives, to hold the shield 24 in place and provide a desirable appearance. The shield 24 is a halfsphere in shape and is Sculptured to have an ovoidal appearance in plan view. Shield 24 also has a cut-out 3l) in the flat, i.e., rear, side 32 which is placed against the body piece 10 during assembly. Cut-out 30 is adapted to fit over the antlers and the portion of the animals skullplate which is normally associated therewith. In view of the generally spherical shape of the shield 24, the cut-out 30 has an indentation 34 at each end into which the antlers will extend in an upwardly direction. The cutout 3i) of shield 24 is sized to tit antlers of varying sizes and desirably is on the small side so that when the mount is assembled the shield can be pressed onto the body piece over the antlers. Of course, the shield 24 can be a holloWed out shield, if desired, to conserve material.

In mounting, the antlers 100 are positioned in the center of the body piece 10 and marked. The steel spring strips 22 are then attached at the top portion of the piece 10 using the wood screws 18. At this point the antlers 100 are positioned under the mounting strips and the metal screws 20 are then inserted through the back of the :body piece 10 at the lower portion thereof. The metal screws are then tightened to cinch the antlers `10i) tightly to the body piece 10 through bending and tightening of steel `strips 22. Shield 24 is then pressed over the antlers 100 at the mounting mechanism to attach it to the body piece 10. Fabric 26 is then placed over the shield 24, arranged as desired and attached to the body piece 10 by driving the burnished tacks 28 into the body piece 10 at the top and the bottom of the shield.

It is claimed:

A trophy mount for antlers or horns of animals in which the several parts are readily and easily assembled and disassembled comprising a ilat body piece adapted to be supported from a wall and predn'lled with four holes forming a quadrangle approximately in the center thereof, the antlers being adapted to be placed between the upper pair and the lower pair of said holes, two steel spring strips adapted to be placed over the antlers when said antlers are placed on said body piece, rst means extending into the upper pair of holes for separately securing one end of each of said strips to said body piece, second means extending into the lower pair of holes for separately securing the other end of each of said strips to said body piece and for bending said strips about said antlers to thereby cinch the antlers to said body piece, a half-ovoidal shaped shield of foamed polystyrene pressed against said body piece over said steel strips, an-d a fabric arranged over said shield and secured to said body piece, said shield having an at least partially hollow interior with the hollow being arranged over said steel strips.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,063,585 l2/1936 Comstock 211-124 2,098,975 11/1937 Rich 24S-345.1 2,938,691 5/ 1960 Simons 248-28 2,952,343 9/1960 Modrey 248-223 X CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. JOHN PETO, Examiner. 

